


Coventent

by xXxAngelStormxXx



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Coven, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Genre: F/M, Madison is Maggie, Maggie is Madison
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-24 17:36:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9776360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXxAngelStormxXx/pseuds/xXxAngelStormxXx
Summary: This is an idea of mine, a bit AU. Maggie is Madison, they are the same person. I'm changing 'Madison's ' personality a bit, so she's more like Maggie. Other big changes are listed within.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author note: obviously, this story is a bit au. I’m combining bits from Freak Show and Coven. One of the main things is Maggie Esmerelda=Madison Montgomery.**

**Some other background info for this AU:**

**-Maggie Esmerelda did NOT work with Stan, and she really is a psychic. A witch to be more precise, and the reason she did not foresee Stanley hurting the other members of the freak show is because that is not her strongest gift. She is just coming into her witchcraft abilities and it just happened to be one of the first gifts that manifested for her.**

**-Maggie ran away from her family, who wanted to exploit her ‘pretty face’ and stage talents such as singing and acting. They didn’t actually cared about her, just wanted her to make money for them. They were abusive, and she just couldn’t stay there anymore so she ran away after her powers started manifesting.**

**-Jimmy is angry that she didn’t foresee the tragedies Stanley was causing.**

**-After His hands got cut off she retrieved them and somehow magically repaired them onto his body, he doesn’t know because she did it after he yelled at her to leave. (She came back when he was asleep.)**

**-Ethel is alive, she was just badly injured and didn’t remember what happened the day she got hurt.**

**-She has her guesses that Maggie is the one who ‘miraculously’ fixed her son, but no proof.**

**-Maggie was still sawed in half, but the withes who became her new coven somehow saved her with magic. (That doesn’t make sense, I know. But it’s AU, so who really cares?)**

**-Ethel didn’t tell Jimmy she had been killed because she didn’t want him hurting, he had told her to leave and go back to her abusive family. Go back and ‘be a star’ and all kinds of hurtful things like that. Ethel doesn’t know she is alive again.**

**-Eventually other members of the freak show troupe told him, but his mother doesn’t find out he knows until one night he gets drunk and it slips out.**

**-Her family did find her after she was brought back to life, and they made her go back into show biz, so she’s famous and living at Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies. She goes by Madison Montgomery to the world, and keeps her real name- Maggie Esmerelda, private. (She’s not going to be that much of a brat in this fyi, sorry.)**

**-She still loves Jimmy even though he said all those mean things to her, she knows he was just hurting because he was losing family and just lost both of his hands. He still loves her too, just doesn’t admit it to himself yet.**

**I think that’s most, if not all, of the relevant changes I’m making for my story idea to, sorta, work.**


	2. Chapter 2

            Maggie sighed, adjusting her large black hat on her head for the third time since they’d arrived at the tent. She was uncomfortable in the familiar surroundings, and to those who knew her well she was not doing a great job of hiding it. That meant Zoe and Miss Cordelia for the most part. Nan of course could read her mind, so she knew. Misty and Queenie were warming up to her, but they weren’t quite there yet, and of course Fiona couldn’t care less.

            She shifted in her seat, crossed, and re-crossed her ankles, and then sighed again, causing Zoe who was sitting next to her to actually let out a soft groan.

            “Stop it.” She hissed, “Maybe he’s not even here.” Of course, she had told Zoe about Jimmy. She had to once she had seen Kyle and Zoe connect, she had to explain her behavior towards the boy who looked like him. It was eerie how alike they looked, but she had heard somewhere that there was about seven people who looked like you. Doppelgangers. She was sure that was it, although she was a witch, so she supposed it could be anything and that thought ate at her.

            “You can’t know that.” She whispers back anxiously.

            “Nan.” Zoe leans across and taps the girl on Maggie’s other side on the shoulder. Getting her attention away from Queenie.

            She turns and looks at Zoe, already reading her mind and answers her unspoken question in a second. “He’s here.” She glances around, “Somewhere.” She offers with a shrug, then without saying anything else she turns back to Queenie.

            Zoe is the one to sigh now, since Maggie is not more nervous than before and is shaking her leg, bouncing it up and down quickly. A nervous tick she’d thought she’d gotten rid of.

            “Relax, will you?” Zoe rolls her eyes and shakes Maggie by the shoulders. “You’re going to be fine. If you keep this up you’re going to annoy us so much we might just end up killing you.” She keeps a straight face, even with the threat and Maggie grimaces, biting her lip she apologizes in a murmur.

            “I’m sorry.” She takes a deep breath and sits up straight in her seat, crossing her legs and placing her hands in her lap. “Calm. I can do that, right?” She directs her focus onto her clothing, adjusting her long faux fur shawl, well maybe it was in between that and a boa. She couldn’t tell, she just knew it looked seriously good with her outfit.

            “Maggie?” A voice cuts through her focus like a knife. She stares down through her sunglasses at her hands, frozen in place now. _Ethel_ , her mind screams at her, _it’s Ethel_. “Maggie? Is that you?” Ethel’s asks softly.

            Finally, she looked up from her hands, still frozen in place, and into the face of someone she considered a motherly figure. Holding her breath, she slowly reached up and touched her glasses, pausing a moment and averting her eyes again before sliding them off. She didn’t want to the disappointment and anger she was sure she’d find.

            “Maggie…” Ethel breathed her name, and she tensed closing her eyes and waiting for either a verbal lashing or a slap, even both. What she wasn’t prepared for was the tight hug she was pulled into.

            Slowly she wrapped her arms around the older woman, gently as she was afraid this wasn’t real, that she would turn around the next second and Ethel would hate her.

            “Ethel- you- you don’t hate me?” She stuttered the question out, barely above a whisper.

            “Of course not.” She scoffed, “We missed ya, thought ya were dead.” She shook her head, “Why did ya let us believe that?” Now she looks disappointed and Maggie barely holds back tears. “I- I really was dead. I ju-just didn’t think any-one wanted to see me again.”

            She feels relief for only a second before words rush back to her, harsh words that Jimmy said. “But-but Jimmy- he said-“ Ethel cuts her off, “I don’t give a hoot what Jimmy said. That boy doesn’t know the first thing about magic. And he sure as heck doesn’t realize he let the best thing he’s ever gonna have slip through his fingers.” She wags her finger at Maggie who finds a small smile tugging at her lips.

            “So,” Ethel cocks her head, “Ya gonna introduce us to your new friends?”

            “Oh, where are my manners.” Maggie calms down quickly thanks to Ethel’s kind words. “This is Zoe, she’s my roommate at the academy.” She places her hand on the girls shoulder. “This here is Nan, next to her is Queenie and on the other side of Zoe is Misty.” She points to each girl in turn. “Our headmistress is Miss Cordelia, and her mother is Fiona.” She looks around, but doesn’t see the two older witches. “They should be around here somewhere.” She shrugs.

            “Maggie.” A small, almost squeaky voice calls out, and she widens her eyes and her smile grows, “Ma Petite!” Sliding from her chair to a crouch on the ground she welcomes the tiny girl into her arms and holds her on her hip as she stands up.

            Quickly after that other troupe members came to greet her, before going back to preparing for the upcoming show. It was quite busy and almost time to begin, citizens from the town should be arriving soon. Handing Ma to Eve, Maggie sat back down on her seat, Ethel telling her to stick around after the show so they could all spend some time catching up. Of course, she readily agreed once Ethel promised that if Jimmy saw her she would make sure he was on his best behavior.

            Settling into her chair she slipped her glasses back on, enjoying the anonymity they helped provide in conjunction with her large, oversized floppy hat. The accessories blocked most of her face, obscuring her identity and since she’d become famous it was harder to go unnoticed. Sometimes she laughed it off when people noticed her, claiming she must be a doppelganger and told them her name wasn’t Madison, it was Maggie. That usually appeased people, and they would turn away grumbling and upset that it wasn’t ‘Madison Montgomery’.

            Soon after the large tent started filling, seats being claimed rapidly, both Cordelia and Fiona waltzed back through the flap and took their spots next to the young teenagers. “Remember girls, best behavior tonight. We are guests.”  Cordelia calmly told her students, facing forward and sitting straight, keeping a straight face with her sunglasses too sitting on the bridge of her nose. She folded her walking stick up and set it in her lap, holding onto it.

            The girls were all the same, but entirely different at the same time. Each girl was dressed head to toe in black, barely much for accent color on their clothes.

            Maggie herself was a tall girl, long blonde hair she liked to curl in a ponytail with a hair ribbon tied around it when she wasn’t in the public spotlight. When she had to be Madison Montgomery, super star, she usually kept it down and it was much straighter. Her make-up was always done to perfection, one of the few tricks she’s learned from being a star, and actually liked.

            Her roommate Zoe, was shorter than her, but was thin and willowy. Her light brown hair was long and pin straight. The poor girl had discovered she was a witch when she was in bed with her late boyfriend Charlie. She was very happy now, with Kyle. The boy that Maggie had helped her re-animate. That was a whirlwind experience, and it helped bring the two girls closer somehow.

            Nan was of average height, and had long, straight dark brown hair with bangs that fell just above her eyes. She wasn’t as thin as Zoe or Maggie, but she wasn’t very large either. Nan was a mind reader, and it came to her so naturally that it was a challenge to not pay attention to the voices of others that rang in her head. When she and Maggie went to meet their new neighbors, Maggie had deliberately worn a flattering dress and openly flirted with him just to see if he was good enough for Nan. Of course, she knew he was hot, but she wanted to see how he would treat them both. If he ignored Nan, who had all but fallen in love with him right from the first hello, then he wasn’t good enough. But if he ignored Maggie, well Madison as she introduced herself, then he passed her test. It was a good thing Nan could read her mind, she had gotten used to the blonde’s test, her form of protection. Maggie never felt she could do much, but she could help find out if the guys they were crushing on were worth their time, just in a different way than Nan could. Nan actively tried to not read the minds of someone she crushed on, she felt it was unfair to them when she could just invade their privacy like that. It was different with her friends and strangers though.

            Misty Day was about the same height as Madison, and she was a very bojo gypsy style girl. She loved flowery shawls and tall boots. Her blonde hair was a little longer than shoulder length and was very curly. Misty’s strongest gift was the gift of resurgence, she could give life easily.

            Queenie was the largest girl of them, and very straightforwardly blunt with people. She was the only African American girl currently at the academy, but that did not phase her. Queenie wore her very, very curly deep brown, almost black hair cut to her just below her ears. Her strongest gift was being what she liked to refer to as ‘a human pin cushion’ or ‘voodoo doll’. She could inflict pain and injuries on others when she did something to herself, and she would not feel a thing or be otherwise hurt.

            Cordelia was loved by all her pupils. She was kind and cared deeply for them, doing her best to be a good teacher and caregiver to them. Cordelia was also blind. She had been attacked with acid and it ruined her physical eyes and eyesight, but it gave her a different kind of sight. She could see things, true things, when she touched something, usually a person. Her best gift was the ability to make potions, but her newfound sight had become very useful to the coven.

            Fiona Goode, Cordelia’s mother, was the current supreme. She was vain and selfish, often shirking responsibility. Yet, for all her faults, she still cared about the young witches in her own way. She wanted them to learn for their coven to grow, but she did not want a new supreme to rise as it would mean her imminent death.

            The first thing Maggie had noticed about the Goode’s was how uncanny their resemblance to Bet and Dot and to Elsa was. Cordelia was identical to Bet and Dot, just with a single head on her shoulders, and Fiona was identical to Elsa. The only difference she could think of being she did not think Fiona had prosthetic legs. Seeing three look-a-likes had unnerved her, but she hadn’t said anything to them about it. In hindsight, she probably should have.

            With a full house, the show began and it was everything Maggie remembered and more.


	3. Chapter 3

            The entire show Maggie raptly watched her friends onstage go through their acts, hoping that Jimmy wouldn’t notice her. The second he came on stage her breath hitched, caught in her throat and she wasn’t sure if she breathed at all the entire performance.

            It wasn’t until he was leaving the stage that he saw her, and his eyes seemed to bore into hers even though the sunglasses. She felt her stomach drop, and hoped he didn’t realize it was her. Unfortunately for her, luck was not on her side today.

            Jimmy paused, staring at the blonde girl, before quickly moving out of the way so the show could continue but he kept his eyes on her. Staring as he peered out of view, she felt his eyes on her.

            “He saw me.” She whispered, her voice low, to Zoe. “What do I do? I think he recognized me.”

            “Nothing.” Zoe replied in a hushed voice, still staring forward. “Do nothing. Don’t draw his attention back to you, don’t do anything that would tell him that you really are you.”

            “Ok.” She pursed her lips before settling her face back into a straight face, and clapping with the rest of the crowd. She nodded to herself, she looked very different than he would remember. Her hair straight down instead of curled in a high ponytail, her clothes tighter and all black instead of light and airy. She figured, that should be enough for him to think his eyes were playing a trick on him. That is, unless Ethel told him.

            All too soon the show was over, and she stood up with her classmates, her sisters. Standing straight and tall, she refrained from looking over in the direction she knew he would be.

            “Ah, you must be the girls from Miss Robichaux’s Acadamy.” The voice of Elsa Mars cut through the air, stopping them from taking a step to leave.

            “Yes, we are.” Cordelia turned towards the sound of the voice and held out her right hand while her cane stick was in her left. “I am Cordelia, the school’s headmistress.” Her smile was bright and kind as she spoke. “And you are?”

            “I am Miss Elsa Mars, the owner of the show.” She studied Cordelia, a suspicious look on her face. Like she recognized her, recognized her face as it was the same as Dot and Bette’s, although she didn’t realize it yet and wouldn’t unless Cordelia took off her large glasses. “You look familiar…” She paused, narrowing her eyes, “Have we met before?”

            “No, I don’t think so.” Cordelia shook her head.

            “Huh.” She quirked an eyebrow before putting a fake smile on her face. “What are all these sunglasses about? It’s quite dark in here.”          

            “They look cool.” Zoe spoke up this time, “Except Cordelia’s. She’s um, well she’s blind so…” She trailed off softly, wishing there was a less harsh and blunt way to say it.

            Cordelia nodded, “It’s alright to say it Zoe, I’m blind. No sense beating around the bush. Miss Elsa, these are my students, Zoe Benson, Queenie, Misty Day, Nan and Madison Montgomery.” She waved her hand in their general direction.

            “The Madison Montgomery?” Elsa seemed interested now, and Maggie couldn’t help but feel that that was the very reason they had been extended an invitation in the first place, after all Elsa was driven and wanted to be famous.

            “Yes.” Cordelia confirmed.

            Elsa turned and observed the girls, trying to pick out Madison. There weren’t very many images of her out there yet, mostly just recordings and magazine articles, but her eyes landed on the only girl with lighter blonde hair.

            “You must be Madison.” Her smile became sickly sweet, and overly fake kindness was layered onto the act. “Oh, I’ve always wanted to get into show business. You must like it very much, you have an agent and everything! Think you can give me their card?” She made it sound like she was joking, but in reality, she was very seriously asking.

            Maggie opened her mouth to speak but someone else had wormed their way past other performers and marched straight up to them, up to her really. His sudden appearance made attention shift immediately to him. Her mouth stayed open and she tensed, waiting for a verbal attack.

            His eyes searched and scrutinized her, and she shifted under the intense gaze.

            “Jimmy, what are you doing? You’re going to scare the poor dear.” Elsa admonished, laughing in a teasing manner. What she wanted to do was push him away, and force the girl to get her into Hollywood. But, she couldn’t do that, so she was going to try sucking up.

            He ignored Elsa entirely, and he stepped closer to Maggie. She knew he couldn’t see through her sunglasses, but it felt as though their eyes were meeting and she tilted her head so she could hold his gaze. He reached out, his fingertips brushing against her cheeks as he took ahold of her glasses. Maggie looked down, again not sure she wanted to see his reaction, as he gently removed them.

            “Maggie.”


	4. Chapter 4

            “Maggie.”

            The sadness in his voice struck her and she stayed frozen, rooted to the spot. Swallowing thickly, she forced herself to look up and meet his eyes.

            “Jimmy.” Her voice was soft and timid in a way that he’d never heard it be before. She was always strong, even when she spoke softly or was unsure.

            “You’re alive.” He breathed and she ducked her head down and stared at her feet. Gingerly he grabbed her chin and tilted her head back up, and she averted her eyes, looking anywhere but his eyes. “How?” confusion clear on his face.

            “Maggie?” Elsa narrowed her eyes angrily, “What is the meaning of this?” She waved her arms around in a gesturing motion, not really at anything in particular.

            “I-“She starts but before she can say anything else Elsa all but screeches in indignation at Cordelia, “You lied to me! That’s Maggie Esmerelda, not Madison Montgomery.” Anger in every word, as she points at Cordelia.

            “She didn’t lie to you.” Maggie found her voice and she barely refrained from growling at her. “Madison Montgomery is a stage name.”

            Elsa actually seemed to recoil from the underlying venom in Maggie’s voice, or it could have been the deadly glare she had trained on her.

            “So, you didn’t die, you just ran off to Hollywood.” Jimmy narrowed his eyes and she turned her gaze back to him, “No,” She purses her lips, “I really did die, that hurt like hell by the way. And the only reason I went to Hollywood after I was ressusitated somehow, was because of you.” She pointed her at him, inches away from his face, “You told me to stop pretending and go home. Go back to the family who doesn’t care about me, who only care about money, who use my face, my talents, to get it.” Maggie’s voice rises as she talks with her hands, “You told me I was worthless, and that the only good thing I could do was go back to that, go back to my family.” Her eyes well up, but she doesn’t let the tears fall, not now.

            “I was sawed in half. In half Jimmy.” Her voice trembled, and her right hand touches her stomach, almost able to feel the pain again just from the memory.

            His eyes are wide, staring at her and she can feel the eyes of her coven and the rest of the troupe that were still in the tent on her as well. “You think losing your hands was bad? You only remember the pain that came after you woke up. Try being awake while a dull old saw cuts through your stomach.” Maggie curled her arms around her stomach, almost protectively. As Maggie’s anger and hurt flared, so did her powers and she accidentally started a fire on the chairs behind her and her sisters. Shouts of alarm filled the tent, “Somebody get some water or a fire extinguisher!”

            Jimmy’s eyes stayed trained on her, and he looked into her eyes, her pain filled eyes. “Maggie.” He whispered, “I’m sorry.” He crumbled in front of her, and gently caressed her face. “I’m so sorry Maggie.” His voice was thick as he choked out the words. “I’m so sorry.”


End file.
